Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (17 page)

“I will never harm her.”

Coming to an abrupt decision, but knowing it was the right thing to do, Tren held Rell’s gaze. “You need to see her, be around her, at least once before you meet her in public. And now is the perfect time.”

His jaw dropped, and he stared at Tren. “You want me to come with you, right now, to meet Paige?”

“Not to meet her, she is still sleeping deeply, but to be around her. To know if you can control yourself.”

“I do not know if I possess the strength to see her and not touch her.”

“You will, because she needs you right now as her shield, not her lover.”

Rell searched his face, and Tren struggled to keep his features impassive even though his head was spinning. It had struck him to the core to see how close Rell was to the madness. If he lost his old friend to the beast, just when their salvation was in sight, he didn’t know if he would survive both the guilt and loss. He could only pray that the Lord of Life granted him the ability to forgive both Rell and himself.

A little while later they entered Tren’s suite of rooms and a disguised Rell let out a groan as he surveyed the large space. “I can smell her everywhere. She smells so good, so fertile. I had no idea it would be this intense. Maybe I should avoid seeing her.”

Tren didn’t have to check his bond with Rell to feel the other man’s desperation to do just the opposite, to go to Paige as quickly as possible. The urge also pulled at Tren, and he took a moment to center himself. Having recently been in the other man’s shoes, Tren motioned to Rell. “Follow me.”

After checking with the computer that Paige was still asleep, he stepped into their bedroom and moved quickly out of the way so Rell could see her.

The moment Rell walked into the room he made a pained noise and sank to his knees.

Tren didn’t blame him. Paige looked like a goddess stretched out on the massive bed, the pale cream sheets molding to her generous curves, one curvy leg and hip exposed from how she’d moved in her sleep. Lying on her back with one arm thrown over her head, she had pulled the sheet down enough in front to reveal part of her dusky pink nipple. The little bud was soft and relaxed, taunting Tren to suckle it into hardness. He almost went to do just that when he remembered Rell was there.

He was still on his knees, staring at Paige as a light tremble went through him. Tren came up behind him, unable to read the other man’s emotions as he continued to gaze at Paige. Rell’s hair was unnaturally dark at the moment as part of his disguise, but the familiar musky smell of the other man’s arousal twirled with Paige’s scent, combining into an incredible aphrodisiac. Rell was shielding for all he was worth, but a hint of the shock and adoration he felt seeped into Tren’s mind, easing his worry. Without a doubt, the bondmate link existed between Rell and Paige, and Tren had done the right thing bringing him there.

Rell whispered, “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Perfect.”

Pride filled Tren instead of the jealousy, and he gave Rell’s shoulder a squeeze.

They remained like that for a long, stolen moment, each examining Paige as she slept. In the low lighting his enhanced vision could easily pick out every detail of her body, and he found himself mesmerized by the rounded curves of her form. She shifted on the bed, rolling over to her stomach and exposing one plump butt cheek as she wiggled into her pillow. Rell let out a soft, pained noise, and Tren had to choke on his return growl of agreement.

Abruptly Rell stood and turned, striding out the door so fast he was almost running.

Once he was clear of the bedroom, he stopped, turning to the wall and resting his forehead against it as he panted. “I almost lost control and went to her.”

Beyond Rell the green nightscape of Tren’s home territory, their home territory, shifted with an imagined breeze. “But you didn’t.”

“No.” Rell turned his gaze to Tren, his blue eyes glowing with emotion. “But it is a struggle. I must go.”

Before he could stop himself, Tren said, “When can I see you again?”

Closing his eyes, Rell hung his head for a moment, then looked back up with a carefully blank expression. “I will watch over her and guard her with my life. I swear it.”

“I know.”

Hesitating, Rell said in a low voice, “You are different, less angry.”

“I am.”

“Is it because of Paige?”

Tren nodded slowly. “It is.”

“She must be protected at all costs.” Rell drew himself up then lifted his chin. “Use this time wisely, win her heart, and make her your bondmate. I will do what I can to keep her safe, but the sooner she is bonded with you and on Kadothia the better for all of us.”

With the soothing presence of Paige sleeping safely in the next room to calm his irrational anger, Tren closed the distance between them and placed his hands on Rell’s shoulders, the feeling of the other man’s body achingly familiar. “Will you be all right?”

Looking directly into Tren’s eyes, Rell said, “I have managed to survive this long without you, managed to spend endless nights alone when I would have given anything to have you at my side, times when I would have begged you to return to me if only you would see me. Years of despair over what I had lost, times when I thought my beast would consume me, and I still retained my sanity when I had no hope.”

The enormity of his actions crashed down on Tren, and he closed his eyes, unable to face Rell. “Forgive me, please, forgive me.”

“I already have.”

Strong arms embraced him, snapping him from the memory, and he clung to Rell, holding him so tight his whole body ached. The remembered terror and fear were still there, but the combination of his bonds with Paige and Rell stabilized him in a way he’d never experienced before. It enabled him to regain control of himself, to allow himself a few stolen moments of pleasure in his blood brother’s arms. Here, now, with their bodies pressed close together, their hearts once again beating in rhythm, he found a forgiveness he thought he was incapable of.

“I have missed you,” he whispered against Rell’s strong neck.

Instead of responding, Rell pressed their foreheads together, breathing his air. “I missed you as well, but now is not the time for our reunion. Too much is at stake, and we need our enemy’s attention focused on you so I can do what I do best.

“Once Paige and I arrive on Kadothia, I would like to formally introduce you.”

Through their slowly strengthening bond came a surge of joy strong enough to make Tren smile. Rell’s happiness was always like that, a burst of bright sunlight coming through the open door of a dark room. Paige’s happiness was more like the constant, warm glow of a fire that chased back the shadows. The thought of spending the rest of his life surrounded by such light and warmth filled him with an optimism he’d thought long dead. Maybe the Universe wasn’t as doomed as he’d grown to believe, maybe there was hope for the Bel’Tan galaxy yet.

Paige Grant

Soft, feathery kisses rained down over Paige’s face as she slowly arched her back and turned her lips to a man’s firm mouth. She momentarily worried about morning breath, but once their tongues touched the only thought that filled her mind was getting closer to him. He was so very big, and she had to tug herself up to his lips, wrapping her arms around his thick neck as he seduced her with each sucking nip. A low rumble vibrated through his chest and into her body, awakening every nerve ending in a fast rush of lust.

The more they kissed, the more she was able to feel him, to somehow have an echo of his emotions through hers. Right now he was pure, unadulterated male hunger, and he smelled so good. The top of her head tingled as he slipped his hands between her thighs, and she finally released his lips with a low moan, her clit throbbing with need. If he would just touch her there…if she could just touch him there. For a moment she swore she knew exactly what Tren wanted. It wasn’t something she would have thought of on her own, but when she took his hand then helped him slip one of his big fingers inside of her, he hissed with pleasure.

Fascinated, she watched through heavy lids as his fangs grew. Not as much as they did when he was being protective of her, then he was downright scary, but enough for her to imagine feeling them pierce her nipple just enough to draw one small bead of blood that he would lick off, savor. This foreign thought had a very erotic, primal flavor to it and once again she wondered where these odd images were coming from. Could she really be reading his mind?

Her thoughts shattered as he began to stroke inside of her, pausing when he found her G-spot. Though she’d never been with a man, she had very frank and sexually active roommates who talked about doing the dirty deed a great deal. She might not have had firsthand experience with a man finding that spot inside of her, but she’d explored it plenty when she was having a private moment with herself. Dawn had told her that before Paige had sex for the first time, she had to know what an orgasm felt like so she knew if the guy was doing her right. It made sense and that night a highly embarrassed Paige had looked at a softcore dirty movie online and figured her body out.

When Tren discovered that spot, and how it made lightning zip through her, he let out a low moan. “Oh,
alyah
, your are going to be so much fun to play with. You have so many sensitive spots for me to torment, to tease.”

As if to prove his point, he used his thumb on her clit while his thick finger moved inside of her, stretching her. She grasped at his large biceps, working herself against his hand with abandon. Everything about him urged her to take as much pleasure from him as she could, to climax until she passed out. Little black dots danced around the edges of her vision, and she became scared.

“It’s too much.”

“Shhh, my bride, I will not give you any more than you can take.”

Moaning, she tried to get him to go faster, but he kept his pace slow, teasing at the entrance of her sheath with a second finger that she desperately wanted inside of her. She needed something bigger, much bigger, for her wet sex to grip on to. With a wiggle of her hips, she tried to scoot down his body, closer to his erection that pressed against her leg, but he wouldn’t let her.

“No, not until you have gone through the growth regime.”

With her body hovering on the edge of her orgasm, she snarled at him, “I want you inside of me.”

A second finger joined the first, making her burn slightly, and he pulled back right away. “Paige, you cannot even take two of my fingers without hurting. I would damage you and would never forgive myself.”

What he said was the truth, the thought of harming her made him ill. Compassion for him moved through Paige, and she stroked his face, trying to keep her hips from rubbing against him. Aside from her desire, her mind was clear and a good night’s sleep had helped her organize her thoughts a little. From the bottom of her heart she believed in fairy tales and when God was good enough to send a real life hero her way, she wasn’t going to let him go. Yes, she would miss the Earth, but the only family she cared about was dead. And Casey would be on Kadothia. The thought of never seeing Casey’s parents or her friends was a bitter pill to swallow, but everything inside of her told her she belonged with Tren.

“I want the growth regime.”

He froze. “You understand what that means, correct? That even if you choose not to bond me you will still have to go live on Kadothia. You will not be allowed back to Earth in your altered form.”

Another soft pang of sorrow went through her, but she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I understand. I’ll miss Earth, but I belong with you—my bondmate.”

Abruptly all feeling shut down from him, and she flinched away as he stared at her, expressionless. “You wish to bond with me?”

Blinking back tears at his cold response, she whispered, “Never mind.”

Suddenly she found herself flat on her back on the bed, with an enraged Trenzent hovering over her. “Do you wish to bond with me?”

“Yes,” she yelled in his face, not appreciating his attitude. “At least I did until you started acting like a jerk.”

Softer now, he leaned down and rubbed his nose along her jaw, his lips caressing her neck. “You wish to bond with me?”

“I swear, if you ask me that one more time…”

He pressed himself up above her in an impressive plank, the scars of his jaw tightening as he growled out, “Do you, Paige Grant of Earth, agree to be my bondmate?”

For a moment the blockage between them dissolved a bit, and she caught a hint of his desperation, his complete and total panic that she would deny him. He loved her, loved her so much she was having a hard time breathing, but she managed to whisper out, “Yes, I agree to be your bondmate.”

A feminine voice rang out through the room. “It has been noted that on this day Supreme Commander Trenzent al’Doun and Paige Dana Grant of Earth have made a commitment to be mated. No ceremony date has been set.”

“So noted,” Tren said in a clear voice that rang with happiness.

When he turned his shining gaze back at Paige, she couldn’t help but bask in the warmth of his affection even as she began to freak out. “Wow, it’s like…officially official.”

“It is, my bride.”

The pride in his voice when he said that made her tingle from head to toe. “So, what do we do now?”

Abruptly he sobered, then kissed her gently on the lips. “I will take you to the medical bay where they will start your growth regime. You will stay in a heavily guarded apartment there where you will be provided with everything you need for the transition. Namely, food.”

“How long will I be there?”

“Around a day. I am afraid I cannot be with you at all times. There is business I must attend to.”

A touch of fear dampened her happiness. “When will I see you? There isn’t some Kadothian tradition about keeping the future bondmates apart before the ceremony or anything, is there? I really don’t want to be alone.”

A wave of calm washed over her and her apprehension disappeared. “I will be with you every moment I can. You will fall asleep in my arms and wake up with my tongue in your sweet pussy. Plus, Matriarch Brooks, the woman you met in the terminal yesterday from Earth, will—how did she put it—hang out with you. I have no idea what she means, but that is what she said.”

Relief filled her as she thought about the curvy and beautiful woman with the most amazing dark curls. “She was nice.”

“I have heard nothing but praise for her skills and her kindness.”

Her body melted beneath him as she smiled. “You will always take care of me, won’t you?”

Pressing his erection against her, he growled, “In all ways.”

Flushing as a hard tingle shot from her nipples to her clit, she laughed and shoved at his arms. “Get off me.”

He rolled to his side, but pulled her with him, snuggling his face into her hair. “Never.”

They lay there, basking in each other’s presence when laughter suddenly rumbled in Tren’s wide chest.

Looking up, she studied his face and found his gaze distant as he smiled. “What’s so funny?”

Still focusing vaguely on the far wall, he murmured, “Your friend, Matriarch Casey Westfall, has ordered that you see her at your earliest convenience. She is a bit…excited about the news of our bonding ceremony. I do not understand much of what she is saying. She talks very fast when she is enthused. Something about your bridal dress I think? Now she is crying and trying to talk at the same time. She is very confusing.”

“Yes, she is, but how is she contacting you?”

“I have crystal implants in my brain, tiny microscopic crystals that do things like enhance my strength, control my healing nanobots, and boost my psychic powers.”

She stared at him. “Wow.”

“If you wish, while you are going through your growth regime, they can implant your crystals as well. I would recommend it, that way you can access lessons on Kadothia, and be able to instantly translate and speak any language in the Bel’Tan galaxy like a native.”

The implications of his words stunned her, and she could only stare at him. “How many languages are there?”

“Millions.”

“Wow.”

His gaze went distant again, and she noticed that his pupils enlarged then shrank a little bit. “Matriarch Westfall has sent me another message, which was relayed through the wormhole. She must have been waiting for word on our bonding, because she has gowns already in her possession that she believes you will love. Many…many gowns. She said to tell you these are Cinderella gowns?”

Tears prickled Paige’s eyes as she cuddled into Tren, seeking comfort. “Can you please send her a message telling her thank you, and that I expect tiaras as well when I see her.”

“Done.” He ran his big hands up and down her back in a light caress that had her aroused, yet completely languid. “It is good she will be there to help you with the bonding ceremony. Because of my status it will be a large event.”

“How large?”

He ran the back of his knuckles over her cheek. “You do not like the idea of a big ceremony.”

“I just—it makes me nervous.”

“I swear to you, Paige, when the ceremony begins you will know you have nothing to fear, because I will be there with you every step of the way.” His sincerity beat back her panic. “The only things I require are you and a servant of the Lord of Life. Everything else is unnecessary. I hate to cut our discussion short, but we must go. There are people waiting to speak with me and it is urgent.”

She placed a kiss on his firm lips, then another, both soft and sweet. “Then let’s go. The sooner we get this over with the better.”

***

Five hours later she wished she’d spent more time in bed with Tren.

After being poked, prodded, stared at, then poked some more she was ready to smack the next well-meaning Kadothian man who touched her.

While she was clad in a short, loose topless dress that protected her modesty for the most part, she still felt like everyone was staring at her.

Because they were.

Not outright, or in a rude way, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed the four technicians and three Healers in the large, pale blue room seemed to be fascinated by her. All the men in this room were already bonded, so it wasn’t like they were checking her out in a sexual way. No, they seemed more curious…and slightly awed.

It was weird, and by the time they were done she was glad to escape their silent scrutiny. They were polite with her, but didn’t engage in small talk. While they gave her detailed descriptions of every step and stage of the growth process—a bunch of stuff about turning on parts of her brain and hormones and other things she didn’t understand— they didn’t respond to her efforts to talk to them on a personal level so after a while she just gave up.

“Paige Grant, will you please come with me?” A tall, good-looking healer with almond-shaped dark eyes and long black hair gave her a small bow.

She rose from the comfortable chair she’d been sitting in and gave the people who’d been working on her a small wave and thanks.

They stared after her, and she let out a sigh of relief once they were in the hallway.

The man next to her chuckled. “Long day?”

Relieved that he was talking to her like a normal person, she smiled. “Yes.”

“My name is Xentix Brooks. My Matriarch and wife, Jaz, is waiting for you in your room with lunch. I will warn you now, she is curious about how the growth regime works and may ask you many questions.”

“Is she thinking about doing it herself?”

“Yes.” He gave her a blinding smile filled with happiness. “Once we return to Kadothia after her rotation as an Ambassador on the Reaping ship ends, Jaz wishes to start a family and have our child.”

“Congratulations.” She licked her lips as a logistical question occurred to her, but she was too polite to ask if Xentix, or Jaz’s other husband Mavet would father the child.

“Thank you.”

They arrived at a smooth, dark wood door that slid open to reveal an apartment a little smaller than the one she shared with Tren, but still nice.